This page lists the best blogging tools and most helpful resources we've discovered during our blogging journey, because the one thing that frustrated us most when we began blogging was not knowing where to go for help — or even where to start.
We do NOT want you to feel those same frustrations, so we've listed our favorite resources in one convenient location so you won't have to hunt them down for yourself.
FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a small referral fee from purchases at no additional cost to you. You can read our affiliate policy here.
The Best Blogging Resources for Beginners
Post updated November 2020
Each of these links is to a product we currently use, love, and consider essential to blogging. We never recommend products anywhere on our site unless we 100% love them.
The majority of these products are FREE. Many offer paid upgrades to unlock additional features, and we've indicated that with a [FREE +] sign or have included the upgrade price next to the name.
A few on the list are not free, but they're included because we gained invaluable insight from the class or product. We only recommend paid courses if we made our money back from the purchase price, plus some.
We saved the best for last, so be sure to read to the end. Our favorite resource is a paid course, but it's the ONE course that completely changed the way we blog… ~ Erin & Daisy
1. The Best Organizational Tool for Bloggers
Asana (FREE +): This is the project management tool we use. We enter blog topics into our calendar and set due dates, then Asana emails reminders as those dates near. It's simple to add multiple users and assign tasks. Elle & Co. introduced us to Asana via this handy video. [We use the free version.]
2. The Best Free Stock Photography Sites
Creative Market (FREE +): This site offers designer fonts, Pinterest + Instagram templates, media kits, and beautiful stock photos. Register for a free account and receive 6 free goodies in your inbox every week.
Pexels (FREE): We particularly love the adventure-themed photos found on Pexels and use their images primarily to create Pinterest graphics. Pexel photos are free and have no copyright restrictions.
Unsplash (FREE): Lots of high-definition nature, lifestyle, and food photos. All are free for download and can be used anywhere! Very high quality shots, no copyright restrictions.
Picnoi (FREE): We're huge fans of this site for the images showing diversity and multi-racial families. All photos are free for download and don't have any copyright restrictions.
TIP: When using free photo sites, always remember to check the rules and provide credit and a link back to the source, if required.
FoodiesFeed (FREE): Attention food photographers! This is a great place to go for beautiful food photography that doesn't fall under any copyright restrictions.
Flickr (FREE): Create an account and search for photos using the “Creative Commons” license. We created the pinnable image for our Bali rice paddies post by adding photos sourced from Flickr CC.
3. The Best Free eBooks & Downloads
How to Set Up A Self-Hosted WordPress Blog (FREE): First things first, you need to learn how to set up your blog properly, and this ebook tells you how to do that.
The Secret Blueprint for Blogging Success (FREE): Want a simple and straightforward roadmap to blogging success? Might as well learn from best! Ruth Soukup of Elite Blog Academy will show you the way.
The Blog Structure Blueprint (FREE): Providing a clear blog structure is critical so your readers can find exactly what they're looking for. This handy download will help you determine the best categories and structure for your site.
7 Surefire Ways to Boost Your Blog Income Overnight (FREE): Tired of waiting (and waiting) for your first Amazon Affiliate sale? This helpful guide teaches you how to earn money from the audience you already have…no matter how small.
120 Awesome Blog Post Ideas (FREE): Exactly what it says…120 incredible topic ideas to help your connect with your readers. (PS: Here's our helpful posts with 175+ free topic ideas for beauty bloggers and 175 free topic ideas for travel bloggers!)
10 Steps to Take When Your Blog Post Goes Viral (FREE): If you're lucky enough to have a post go viral, it may happen at a moment's notice. You need to act quickly in order to maximize profits and build lasting momentum! (More from us on that topic here, including tips for when your video goes viral.)
We're fortunate to have had multiple posts and a video go viral, but it helped that we read this free eBook in advance so we knew how to properly monetize when it happened.
4. The Best Social Media Schedulers
RecurPost (FREE +): This is the easiest scheduler we've found for publishing evergreen content on Twitter. The interface is simple to use, even for beginners! [We use the free version, although…we rarely utilize Twitter these days.]
Later (FREE +): This is what we use to schedule Instagram posts. It's handy because you can preview them BEFORE posting to see exactly how they'll look in the grid.
5. The Best Pinterest Scheduler
Tailwind (FREE trial then $9.99/mo): We love Tailwind because it makes our Pinterest account appear active even when we're out having fun! Tailwind posts pins onto our boards at optimal times to provide the best exposure.
We have a Pinterest reach of 1 million+, so it's important that we use the best scheduler to drive traffic to our site. Tailwind is one of the top tools we use to drive traffic to our site. Get a free trial here.
Tailwind Tribes (FREE +): Expose your pins to even more people once you get into using Tailwind Tribes! Begin with the free trial to schedule up to 100 pins, then upgrade to pro if you love it. [We love it and use the paid version.]
6. The Best Email & List Building Resources
Gmail & G Suite (FREE +): You'll eventually want an email address using your own domain ([email protected]), but gmail is perfectly fine for beginners. The best thing about a gmail account is that it gives you access to Google's entire suite of FREE productivity tools, including Google docs, drive, calendar, and more. [We use the paid G Suite version.]
MailerLite (FREE +): MailerLite is a great way to stay in touch with readers via email. Send emails for FREE (up to 1,000 subscribers), create landing pages, and capture leads with unobtrusive welcome bars like you see along the top of many websites. Receive a $30 MailerLite credit through our affiliate link. [We use the paid version.]
One of the most important things you can do as a new blogger is to have readers opt-in to your newsletter. Social media comes and goes, but you'll always have your email list as a form of communication! We love MailerLite because it has the same features as ConvertKit at half the cost.
ConvertKit ($29/mo+): 2019 update! We still use MailerLite for YouTube subscribers newsletter, but we needed something with better segmenting capabilities for ebook sales, so we use ConvertKit to handle those emails.
Unroll.me (FREE): Once your business or personal email account gets out of control, it's difficult to reign it back in. Unroll.me displays a list of all your email subscriptions on one handy page, and you can simply click on the ones you no longer want. The app handles everything from there, and you can unsubscribe from hundreds of annoying emails in seconds! [We use the free version.]
7. The Best Developer Resources
Nothing drives us crazier than technology problems! Seriously. You don't want to be anywhere near our house when something goes wrong with the website! We turn into major grumps.
Sucuri (FREE+): If you ever suspect your site's been hacked, use Sucuri's free sitechecker to run a free scan for malware, website errors, out-of-date software, and blacklisting status. (If you visit a site and suspect it may be hacked, you can also check it via Securi.) [We use the free version.]
iMark Interactive (rates vary): Grayson Bell of iMark Interactive is a fellow Elite Blog Academy graduate who wins the award for “most mentions” on the private EBA Facebook Page. Website down? Call Grayson. Need to switch to SSL? Grayson is your man. Want honest tech advice? Grayson to the rescue. Need a quick fix? It's a one-time fee of $47. He's a triple threat: honest, reliable, and affordable. When we have nagging site issues, iMark is our first stop. [We pay for this service.]
Codeable (rates vary): You can seriously harm your website if you make one wrong adjustment to the coding on the back end, so it's best to leave that to the professionals. At Codeable, you pay by the job and can bid jobs out to multiple developers to get the best rate. We've hired one specific developer for 8 jobs now, and we trust him completely. He has the coveted 5-star rating on Codeable! [We pay for this service.]
8. The Best Hosting Company for Bloggers
SiteGround ($3.95/mo +): We recommend SiteGround for beginners, because it's a reliable hosting company with good customer service and it costs less than $5/month. You'll be on a shared server, which is how they keep the rates low. Sign up here.
Side note: We do NOT recommend Bluehost. We started out with them, but we ran into too many problems with them. (We're not the only ones! Do your due diligence.)
WP Engine ($29/mo +): Once your site gets bigger and starts receiving more traffic, consider switching to a dedicated host like WP Engine. It has built-in security so we don't have to worry about paying for separate site protection plans, backups are automatic, and they have free staging sites so you can preview changes and debut your new site when you're ready. [We use the paid version.]
If you're on a different host and want to switch to WP Engine, the WP Engine Automated Migration plugin makes switching a breeze!! No need to hire a developer or spend hours doing it yourself when they take care of everything for you. You can even leave your current site running and preview the migrated version in a staging site (hidden from public view) before going live to ease all worries.
9. The Best WordPress Themes
Restored 316 ($50 – $100): When you're creating a website, you'll likely want to use a child theme to make it look prettier. We use the Simply Charming theme from Restored 316, but all their themes (and their customer service) are fantastic.
TIP: Need help finding the best theme for your site? Take this quiz to determine the best one for you!
Bluchic Themes ($50 – $100): I've recently discovered Bluchic and have been using quite a few of their pre-made products lately. They also have excellent customer service!
10. The Best Design Resources
Canva (FREE +): Canva is a great way to easily create eye-catching graphics that look professional. It's free and offers lots of great fonts and photos. We use Canva to create many of our pinnable images. (Examples here).
Adobe Creative Suite (FREE Trial, then $9.99/mo +): If you need more control over your graphics, Photoshop is our preferred option. We use it for editing and resizing photos, adding titles to pinnable images, and for creating ebooks. FYI: Students and teachers receive discounts on Adobe products. [We use the paid version of Adobe CC.]
Fiverr ($5 +): Newbies with limited budgets can have logos created starting as low as $5/bid at Fiverr. You'll get a pretty basic design for that fee, but sometimes that's all you need!
Entrepreneurs are the only people that work 80 hours a week, so they no longer have to work 40 hours a week. #entrepreneurs Click To Tweet11. The Best SEO & Site Statistics Resources
Google Analytics & Google Analytics Keyword Planner (FREE): Every blogger should have Google Analytics installed on their site! It tells you who is visiting your site, how they arrived, and what they're clicking on.
Sponsors often request analytics, so if you plan to monetize your blog at any point it's best to set up Google Analytics from the start! It allows you and your sponsors to get to know your reader better.
Yoast SEO (FREE): This is hands down the best SEO plugin on the market. Yoast is such a robust tool and it helps us to rank high in organic searches — even without an extensive knowledge of SEO.
12. The Top Affiliate Programs for Bloggers
If you plan to monetize your blog, we suggest starting out with the following beginner-friendly affiliate programs. It's easy to apply to these programs and you can begin making money quickly with them.
Amazon Affiliates (FREE): Amazon is one of the best and easiest ways for a new blogger to begin earning money online. The interface is easy to use and they'll deposit directly into your bank account when you earn as little as $10!
Ultimate Bundles (FREE): This company groups together top selling ebooks and printables on a variety of topics, then sells them as a package deal at a steep discount (like 90% off). Recommend the bundles to your readers and earn a percentage for each sale.
Erin Condren (FREE): Who doesn't love a good planner?! Sign up to become an Erin Condren affiliate, then recommend the helpful planners to your readers. You'll earn a commission anytime a reader purchases one! Learn more here.
13. Our Top Recommendation for Serious Bloggers
Elite Blog Academy: This is the only comprehensive blogging course we recommend, and it's the one resource that's made the biggest difference for us.
The instructor is Ruth Soukup of Living Well, Spending Less, and her in-depth video series is beyond motivating for new, intermediate, and advanced bloggers!
Members get lifetime access to any course updates, which is what spurred us to initially make the purchase. (It's like buying a college course and having access to the classes for the rest of your life!)
You also gain access to a private EBA Facebook Group, where thousands of like-minded bloggers and entrepreneurs help with blogging-related issues whenever you're stuck.
The course is only offered one time per year, and registration is currently closed. However, you can get on the waitlist so you won't miss out when it opens again in 2021. Read our review of the class here.
The price tends to increase substantially each year, so it's better to invest early. [We use the paid version and enjoy the FREE lifetime updates.]
This is a Dynamic List, so Stay Tuned!
We'll keep adding to this list as we include new “bests” in our arsenal, but we truly hope the ones we provided so far will help steer you in the right direction. Feel free to ask questions below about any of the ones we've listed! Happy blogging.
Related Reading:
- Free Blogging Courses from Trustworthy Bloggers
- 9 Truths Phoebe Buffay Taught Me About Blogging
- What To Do When Your Blog Post Goes Viral (w/Free eBook!)
Pin It for Later: The Best Blogging Resources for Beginners
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This is seriously one of the best collections of blogging resources found all in one place! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. There are so many of these resources that I had never heard of before. Now I need to go check them out and learn more…
Happy to help! I was seriously lost when I started blogging and felt like I spent more time searching for answers than getting things done. I’m always happy to help others to NOT feel the same way. 🙂
Definitely pinning this as a resource! What an awesome list!
Thanks Cara! I hope you’re doing well and I’m glad you found the list helpful. Wishing you a very successful 2017!